When the steamship considered the first cruise ship to originate in America left its New York City pier 150 years ago, the passenger list included a little-known California newspaperman writing under the pen name Mark Twain.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - If asked to name two books penned by Mark Twain, most would respond with "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." If pressed a bit more, some might come up with "Life on the Mississippi," "The Prince and the Pauper" or "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court."

But not one of those works was Twain's best-selling title during his lifetime. That distinction belongs to his irreverent and audacious 1869 travel book, "The Innocents Abroad." An uproarious account of his June-November 1867 tour through Europe and the Holy Land, it was his ticket to stardom.

The Chagrin Documentary Film Festival is "a wonderful celebration of films and filmmakers,” said Ivan Schwarz, chair of the film festival board and president of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission.

The 80 documentaries featured during the upcoming event represent 28 countries. Six of these films have been identified as “Jewish community interest documentaries.”

“We've partnered with the Jewish Federation of Cleveland Israel Arts Connection since the very first year of the fest,” Ponce said. “This is a way of connecting with Israeli documentarians and bringing their stories to our festival. Their films are of interest to all our audience but might have special interest to the Jewish community.”